Thirteen days of horror
by MercuryM
Summary: AU, One house, two weeks, four couples, twenty-two people and one killer.. or is it? Now it's up to Sakura to find the culprit and save herself and anyone else she could manage. GaaSaku SasuSaku NaruHina ShikaTem NejiTen


**A/N: **Hello there and welcome to my story. This is not my first Naruto fiction but as I wasn't satisfied with my previous attempt I deleted it, so you could say this is my first serious adventure in the Naruto universe. Alas, hope you like it.

**Summary: ****AU** It was only supposed to be a fun two weeks. They hadn't seen each other all together for years now and two weeks up in the mountains, in a old long forgotten mansion, telling ghost stories and mysteries sounded fun... Until one by one they started disappearing and dying. Now it's up to Sakura to find the culprit and save herself and anyone else she could manage.

**Pairings: **Gaara/Sakura, Sasuke/Sakura, Naruto/Hinata, Shikamaru/Temari with one-sided Ino/Shikamaru, Neji/Tenten

**Warnings: **Horror, blood, gore, angst, mysteries, character deaths, killings, etc.

**Rating: T**, but as of next chapter it's going up to **M**

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**Thirteen days of horror**  
_Chapter one –  
_**24 hours of easy smiles and laughter**

Sakura took a deep breath and smiled, eyes closed in pleasure enjoying the early rays of the sun on her face. She hadn't realized how much she missed this place until she came back. Three years was way too long time, in her opinion, to stay away from this magnificent place.

Opening her eyelids her vibrant green eyes took in the landscape surrounding her. Tall ancient trees continued way beyond what her vision could see; lush green grass, small, delicate dandelions and spiky, fruit covered bushes complemented the scenery, the sound of a running river nearby adding to the lull of the nature. It was beautiful and Sakura still had hard time comprehending how the locals could call this place the Forest of Death.

True, what had happened three years ago was tragedy but this place was way too breathtaking to be dubbed with such an ugly name.

Laughter broke the peaceful atmosphere and Sakura turned around to see what had brought on such mirth. Her lips twitched.

"Really, Naruto?" she couldn't help but ask.

Said blond was busy clutching his abdomen from laughter, one hand pointing at a scowling Kiba, mud caking his otherwise spiky brown hair. The curses and threats spilling from Inazuka's mouth as he painstakingly removed the mud from his hair did next to nothing about the gasping laughter of Naruto. _Those two_, Sakura smiled fondly, _even after so many years they still act as kids_.

Hinata, Naruto's high school sweetheart, was beat red in the face, stammering apologies on Naruto's behalf and desperately trying to get her boyfriend to stop his snickering. It came as no surprise when Shizune, their once upon a time camp supervisor, thumped Naruto on the head and scolded him non too gently and judging from the blond's sheepish smile and wild gesturing he was trying to get away from the situation with little to no successes.

Luckily for him, Shizune got distracted from her tirade when Ino's shout reached their ears.

"Come on, guys. I see the Rookie's rock. We're almost there." And with that her best friend marched on, followed by a food complaining Choji, indifferent Shino and ecstatic looking Lee.

Naruto used the moment of distraction to grab Hinata and run after the rest, successfully escaping Kiba's revenge and Shizune's speech. Disgruntled, Kiba followed at a more sedated pace, engaging in conversation the obviously un-happy Neji and his fiancée, Tenten.

"Kakashi! Stop reading that book for a moment, will you?" Shizune's annoyed voice made it across the clearing they were resting at, reaching the ears of the silver haired man.

"Oh, but I can't. You see, Jiraya gave me the new book of the Icha Icha Paradise series and I'm very interested in the bondage scene between Yuki and Aki – " The rest of the sentence was lost to Sakura as Shizune clamped a hand over Kakashi's mouth and forcefully dragged him off in the direction the others took.

Only disjointed words like "pervert", "how", "children", "impossible" and "pay" reached her but it was enough for the pink haired doctor-in-training to have an idea what was Shizune muttering about. Kakashi was a pervert, no doubts about it; he had been one even when they were kids and he had been their camp teacher. Good memories, Sakura mused as she climbed one of the higher rocks, using one of the trees as a lever to pull herself up.

If Ino was right and they were close to the Rookie's rock, which was hard to mistake with anything else, that meant that they had something like 3-4 kilometers before reaching their destination. Judging from the sun's position they had just enough time to reach the rest of the group that was already there before the unbearable summer heat hits them. They had already climbed around 5 kilometers so they were half-way there. Too bad that the terrain wasn't suitable for cars and they had to leave their vehicles at the foot of the mountain, in a little make-shift parking they used to use years ago when the camp site was still open. Nonetheless, the hike never failed to energize Sakura and make her feel as if she could fly. Today was no different from before.

Now if only she could find where her boyfri –

A loud shriek pierced the air as an arm sneaked around her ankle and pulled her down. Expecting to meet hard ground, Sakura was pleasantly surprised when she landed on top of the same person she had been looking for, arms enclosing her in a tight embrace. Onyx eyes laughed at her as he leaned in and rubbed his nose against hers.

"Hey there, beautiful. Looking for somebody?" Sasuke's velvety voice washed over her senses, making her glare in response. Sometimes she really hated him, he liked pulling stuns like this one and with her past it didn't help her at all. Sometimes she wondered why she bothered with him at all. But she never let him see that.

She hit him in the chest, green eyes narrowed in mock-anger as she took her revenge by poking him in the ribs few times.

"Sasuke! You almost gave me a heart-attack!"

The dark-haired youth just smirked at her and tucked one of the rebellious locks that escaped her bun behind her ear. Just as he was leaning in to seal her lips with his, Tenten's shout of concern interrupted them.

His sigh of annoyance and the rolling of his eyes only served to make her laugh as she got up and offered her hand to pull him up.

"We're fine, Tenten. Sasuke gave me a scare, that's all." She yelled back and helped her boyfriend back to his feet.

"Come on, let's go." Sakura looped her arm around his and stirred him forward but before she could react he had her pinned against the same rock she had climbed mere moments ago and was too busy exploring her mouth to listen to the half-hearted objections she tried to voice.

Once he had his fill, Sasuke pulled away and with one last chaste kiss interlocked his fingers with hers and lead her towards the rest of the group.

_Maybe_, Sakura thought, _maybe this isn't so bad idea after all._

ɷ **24 hours of easy smiles and laughter** ɷ

Ok, maybe her conclusion was too rushed.

The house looked more dreadful and creepy than she could imagine it becoming or remember it ever been. The three story house, not including the attic and the eerie basement, that was supposed to pass for a villa looked more like a mini mansion than anything else. All sides were covered in heavy, grey stone buried deep under the dark-green leaves of the ever growing ivy, the warm orangey colors of the takoma flowers in stark contrast with the otherwise cold appearance. On the left side of the house fuliginous marks were the only evidence of a fire long passed. Fire, which had consumed the whole camp site three years ago, and one, which Sakura could never forget. Sometimes, she still had nightmares about that horrifying summer.

A spacious porch welcomed the guests. The few chairs and blankets here and there reminded Sakura that the rest of their not so little group did come up here one day ahead of them to make sure the place was inhabitable with hot water and electricity still running. The lack of phone calls was enough proof that the deal was still on but then again the connection here was dreadful in nine out of ten cases.

The only other building that had survived the fire was on the other side of the house. It was a decent sized storeroom which had hosted the emergency generator for the camp site, along with few house-hold and gardening tools. The open doors of the wooden shack confirmed that the structure was still used for the same things. It was only due to the fact it was on the other side of the stone villa that it had survived the all-consuming angry inferno.

Glancing back at the house Sakura couldn't help but shiver. Something didn't bode well with her. There were stories, horrible blood drenched stories about this house even before the Incident of that summer years ago, as Sakura called it in her head. She, along with all her childhood friends that were now here, often used to sneak in the house as little, daring each other to complete silly tasks, playing hide and seek in the endless labyrinth that was the house. Doors leading to nowhere, sealed up windows and trap staircases were merely a small example of what the house consisted of. The older she got, the creepier the house seemed to her. And now, years after the last time she saw it, Sakura felt hopelessly frightened from the darkness of the house.

Why did she come back?

Lee passed by her and gave her thumbs up as he headed to the house.

Because all of her friends were here. Ever since that summer they had never gotten all together again, each one of them traveled as far away as he or she could get, trying to outrun the nightmare Konoha camp site had turned into. Phone calls, messages and video conversations just weren't enough; Sakura missed them more than that and she wasn't the only one. So when Shikamaru had suggested one evening that they should all gather together like in the old times, the young medic student jumped in for the ride without a second thought. But she never suspected they would come back here. Making peace with the past Sasuke had said and Sakura didn't have the heart to disagree.

The killer was dead after all. The house was nothing more than a shadow of what came to pass and Sakura was strong enough to survive for two weeks in it.

"We have hot water in excess and the electricity is operational." Shikamaru said as he made his way to where she stood unmoving, staring at the house.

Sakura broke from her stupor and turned to smile at him.

"Hey, Shika." The nickname made him grimace but otherwise he made no objection. He deemed it too troublesome to correct her, Shikamaru had told her so himself, and Sakura was more than happy to continue calling him so.

He nodded back in greeting and taking her luggage he led her inside the house.

"We're only using the west side of the house, the east wing is a complete disaster and the second and third floors of that part of the house are completely closed off." They passed the kitchen and Sakura waved at Itachi, Shisui and Kisame that were playing poker on the kitchen counter. A wave and two 'hello's followed. "We couldn't open the door for the basement but it's not like somebody's burning with desire to visit it. The attic has nothing but furniture and dust though we didn't really look through it." One left turn, two doors and one walled in window later they climbed the stairs for the second floor.

After a right turn and passing by four doors, Shikamaru opened the last one in the corridor. "This is where you and Ino will sleep." Sakura peeked in.

The room had two single beds; between them was a faded lavatory with a small three legged chair, a thick dirty white carpet covered the dark inlaid floor. Ugly looking lavender flower wall-papers covered the walls, peeled off at places and reeking of old. The big open window was the only thing in the whole room Sakura approved of. The curtains hanged open and swung gently from the wind coming from outside. The bed covers needed changing but Sakura had prepared for this and had few sets in her bag.

"Could be worse." She noted, humor lacing her tone.

"Believe me, it was. We had to clean up a bit for this to even look remotely good. You have no idea how much dust and garbage this place had collected for three years, even though nobody lived here." To hear Shikamaru sound something else than bored was a feast by itself and Sakura gathered by his frustrated voice that it definitely had been bad, maybe even worse than she thought.

He left her luggage at the end of the bed closer to the door and it was then when Sakura noticed that Ino's bag was on the other bed. It was true she didn't have anything against sharing a room with her blond friend but she had hoped for a room with Sasuke instead. Well, if his roommate was Naruto, which was most definitely the case, they could always kick him out for little privacy time. Happy with her train of thought Sakura exited the room and followed Shikamaru back to the kitchen.

If one didn't take into consideration the dark history the house had and the crazy inlay, the building actually had a weird charm with its mixture of styles, crooked hallways and oval rooms. But it was still too weird for Sakura; she had hated it when she was little, getting lost in this house was far from fun for a twelve-year old.

Sai, Yamato and Kakashi had joined the poker game and from the looks of it Itachi had no problems winning with his emotionless face. That didn't mean that the Uchiha heir was heartless, far from it. Sakura often sought his relaxing presence and comforting words after one of her arguments with Sasuke or just another nightmare. Itachi along with Shikamaru were the only two people that could really understand her. Sometimes Ino was too air-headed to see the problem and Naruto was always bursting with emotions and energy and lacked the insight to become acquainted with her fears. In the past there was another person that could understand her perfectly but they parted ways.

"Shikamaru, there you are! Do you have any idea how many times we got lost on our way in this ridiculous hou – Sakura!" Temari was fast to give her a long, proper hug once she laid her eyes on her.

Little surprised but no less happy, Sakura hugged her older friend back.

"Hi, Temari." Said girl looked her over and whistled making Sakura fight off a blush at her friend's apparent approval.

"Look who cleaned up pretty nice, Kankuro." Sakura was passed from one set of arms to another as Temari's older brother gave her a hug as well.

They were here; dread filled her stomach and made it hard for Sakura to really smile. Of course they were here; Temari was after all Shikamaru's girlfriend and had been for the past five years much to Ino's displeasure. And if Kankuro was here that meant that _he_ was here as well. Scanning the room for him proved fruitless so when he spoke right next to her ear she jumped in surprise.

"Hello, Sakura." Her heart stopped for a moment and then resumed a wild pace. God, how she missed him, he always made her feel so special, so loved and precious, so unlike everything Sasuke evoked in her.

Turning around she greedily drank in the sight in front of her. Gaara was as tall as ever, easily towering over her in a strangely comforting manner. His wild dark red hair looked softer than she remembered and Sakura had to force her hands down and claps them tightly together, refusing to embarrass herself and do something like reaching across and running her fingers through his locks. She couldn't help but notice that he looked her over as well, approval and hunger swirling in the darkness of his jade eyes. The two of them continued staring at each other, the rest of the world faded and they had eyes only for the person across.

Unfortunately, the moment was over when Sasuke sneaked an arm around her waist and hauled her to the kitchen table, where he proceeded showing off who had her by making her sit on his chair in his lap.

Sasuke hated Gaara with a passion but Sakura hated being treated like a doll more. After a slight struggle between the two of them Sasuke let her go and she sat next to Hinata, striking a conversation with the shy girl about the beach party they were planning after the two weeks were up. Throughout the whole conversation she could feel Sasuke's dark mood and Gaara's heated gaze.

Two weeks. She had to survive two weeks between her ex-lover, who apparently she still loved, and her current boyfriend, who had started treating her too much like a possession to her liking.

ɷ **24 hours of easy smiles and laughter** ɷ

"I'll be right down." Sakura yelled through the bathroom door when Ino asked her if she should wait.

Wiping off the steam covered mirror Sakura stared at herself. At the age of twenty-one her pink hair reached her mid-back and her green eyes were vibrant as always. She was little on the petit side, with lithe limbs, full bust and curvy bottom. She had somewhat long and delicate fingers but with her job as a surgeon that was a plus as it let her operate more easily in tight places. Sakura considered herself pretty, beautiful even on better days. She liked to think of herself as an easy-going person, always ready to give a helping hand but for the past few years it had been hard with her temper going off at everything and everyone, her insomnia and trust issues didn't help at all.

She sighed and shook her head to get rid of unwanted thoughts. Entering the room she shared with Ino, she dressed quickly and warmly. Just before leaving the room she grabbed a blanket in case it was colder. This high in the mountain it wasn't unusual occurrence, the day temperature could be boiling but that didn't stop the night to be freezing.

Making sure to follow carefully every marking Sai and Yamato had carved in the walls so that nobody from the group could get lost again like Temari and Kankuro had, Sakura made her way to the first floor and out to the porch.

Nicely lit fire greeted her. The group as whole had agreed for a night out under the starts with a bonfire and a barbeque. The smell of roasted chicken wings, bread and vegetables assaulted her senses and Sakura realized how hungry she actually was. With the hike in the morning, the moving in and cleaning they had done combined with the second course down to the cars for the rest of the luggage she hadn't eaten much.

The only available place was on a log next to Sasuke, right across from Gaara. She went over, gave him a kiss on the cheek and turned hopeful eyes to Choji, the person responsible for the food.

One by one people started laughing as Choji couldn't stand her innocent hungry gaze and reluctantly gave her a piece of half-baked potato. It burned Sakura's fingers but she was busy devouring the food to pay attention to the warmth.

As soon as the food was ready conversations were forgotten, the sound of people happily munching on food and curses from burnt tongues and fingers the only sounds. Sakura ate slowly, blowing on her food as she had already burnt her tongue once with a chicken wing and she didn't want to repeat the unpleasant sensation. Looking at her friends, at her favorite people filled her with a sense of peace and calm she had lacked previously. It was as if she had to make sure they were fine with her own eyes before she could believe their calls and messages.

The quiet muttering of people speaking and laughing graced the forest as soon as they finished eating. Together with Hinata, Shino and Lee, Sakura volunteered to bring the dishes in and wash them. Between the four of them the chore was finished quickly and they went back to the bonfire.

As the group of four neared they were met with the type of conversation Sakura dreaded the most.

" – and the man drops the phone, shocked, and drives twenty minutes to the crime scene. When he arrives the police arrest him and he's convicted of murdering his wife. How did the police know that he committed the crime?" Kiba's voice was low and his face was somber looking.

Naruto, who seemed as the person that should answer the horror riddle, scratched at the back of his head and pondered his answer for a moment.

"He had blood on his clothes?" The blue-eyed taekwondo master said unconvinced.

"Wrong." Feral grin stretched Kiba's lips. "Other guesses?"

"Uhh…"

"That's too easy, Kiba. The police never told the man where the crime scene was." Sasuke's bored drawl came from the other side of the fire, mocking Naruto and making him bristle.

"Bastartd. I was about to say that." Naruto angrily shook his fist in Sasuke's direction.

Before her boyfriend could respond back with something just as insulting, Lee jumped to his feet and waved his arms around excitedly.

"Oh, oh! This is so fun and filled with youthfulness! I have one, who wants to answer?" Nobody dared to ask where the youthfulness was in the whole thing.

"I will." Temari raised her hand and the let it drop back on top of Shikamaru's leg, where he took her hand in his and started drawing invisible patterns on it, unbeknown to him making Ino red with anger in the process, jealousy radiating of her.

"You're in a mansion and the power is out." Sakura looked behind her to make sure the power in the house was on. "You see a green and a red door. Pick one."

Temari furrowed her brows in concentration. "Does it matter which?"

"No."

"Well then I pick the red one."

"Now you see a purple and an orange door. Pick one again."

"Purple." Shikamaru snorted; purple was Temari's favourite color.

"Now you see a door with a golden handle and a door with a silver handle. Pick one."

"Golden."

"Good. Now you come across three doors, with a sign on each one of them. One says "Death from drowning", another says "Death from spikes", and the last one says "Death from electric chair". Then you see a sign on the wall that says "Or stay in the mansion and starve to death". What do you choose and still live?" Silence enveloped the clearing as people went over the riddle.

"Can't I just go back and exit the mansion?"

"No, you can't. You have to choose."

Sakura also thought about it and found the answer without a problem. This was an easy one as well.

"The electric chair." All eyes turned to her. "The power is out so you choose the electric chair." The nods from Itachi, Shisui, Shikamaru, Sasuke, Kakashi, Gaara, Neji and Shino proved that yes, the riddle had been too easy.

"Sakura." Naruto whined. "Why are you so good at this?"

"It's just simple logic, Naruto. Something, which you're greatly lacking." Sakura teased gently her childhood friend.

Naruto pouted and Sakura couldn't help but crack the first real smile for the evening. Even though he was the same age as her, Naruto still made a pretty pathetic sight once he pouted.

"I know! Why don't you tell us a story or a riddle, you used to be pretty good back at the days. I remember how spooked I was after the one with the – "

"No." Sakura mentally winced at how harsh her replay was. Naruto looked startled. Clearing her throat she continued more softly than before. "I think that this place has seen and heard more than enough horror stories without us adding to them."

The following silence was almost frightening.

"I'm sorry." Sakura bit her lip. There she went again, ruined the atmosphere with her words as always. "I didn't mean to – "

"You're right." Gaara interrupted her. She turned her surprised eyes in his direction. He hadn't said a word to her since the morning staring contest they had. "We shouldn't have started this at all."

Naruto and Kiba winced in union. The two of them had suggested the topic after all. Nobody said anything after that. Each one of them lost in unpleasant thoughts and memories.

Hinata's timid "Goodnight." was the cue for all of them to head to bed. 'Goodnight's and 'see you tomorrow's were the only words exchanged and one by one the group entered the house.

Sasuke's kiss, Shikamaru's comforting hug and Itachi's reassuring words failed to make her feel better. Gaara's intense gaze was the only thing keeping her from bolting from the house, running down the hill, climbing in her car and speeding out from here.

This didn't feel right.

And it wasn't until the next day when things started going amiss.

**TBC.**

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So, what do you think? Things will get heated as of the following chapter. I can't promise when will I update because I'm busy with real life right now, but I hope it will be soon.

It'd be nice to hear your opinions, reviews are always nice.

- M.


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